BLOG: Explore Romance in London with Katie Arnott, Co-founder of Rewritten

Katie Arnott is co-founder of Rewritten, which was founded in 2016 with a mission to create damn cool bridesmaids dresses (which double equally well as beautiful eveningwear). She has lived in London for 14 years and is a North Londoner at heart, currently residing in Newington Green. The Rewritten showroom is based in Seven Sisters.

Fran + Katie, Founders of Rewritten.

Ever since my husband and I first met, we have loved exploring London together. Whenever we have a free day at the weekend, we pick an area of London on a map that we have never been to and go there for the day. We have seen massive Hindu temples in Neasden, drunk in rooftop bars in Peckham, walked round the Marshes in Tottenham and climbed to the top of St Paul’s Cathedral. London is basically just a collection of villages and each one has its own different vibe, it’s so much fun to explore them all.

Parkland Walk, London

One of my favourite romantic walks in London is from Finsbury Park to Alexandra Palace, along an old disused railway line, through parkland and woods. It’s a little bit creepy in places, with some of the old platforms still remaining, but very overgrown, but it’s beautiful in the autumn when all the leaves are red and falling down around you.

I have so many favourite bars, but one of the most romantic has to be 69 Colebrooke Row, which is tucked down a backstreet in Angel. It has got a beautiful old world glamour to it that I love. It’s pretty tiny so you are lucky if you get a seat, but it’s worth the risk. We love sitting at the bar watching the amazing bartenders putting together the best cocktails – they are delicious but very strong, so be warned – it’s probably best to stick to a couple on a first date!

69 Colebrooke Row

My husband Tommy and I eat out a lot – we love food! We are always trying food from all over the world, as we also love to travel. We’ll go to small cafes like Gokyuzu in Green Lanes for Turkish, and Tayyabs in Whitechapel for Punjabi food. Our favourite for a really special occasion is the Ledbury in Notting Hill - the food is ridiculously good. We also love Trullo in Highbury - it’s more relaxed, but serves amazing Italian food, wine and good vibes, so it’s perfect for date night.

For a change from dinner and drinks, Screen on the Green on Angel is a beautiful old Art Deco cinema that has little sofas you can hire out (much more romantic than a boring old regular cinema chair). It’s always fun to cuddle up to a film with a nice bottle of red wine (and loads of popcorn!)

Screen on the Green, Islington

Working in the bridal industry, I get to hear about so many cool venues in London. Lots of our brides opt for less traditional spaces to get married in, and we get a lot of weddings in interesting urban spaces such as MC Motors in Dalston, The Asylum in Peckham and Trinity Buoy Wharf in the Docklands - which is actually where my husband and I got married. It is a cool arts space and boasts London’s only Lighthouse, and a vintage 1950’s diner in an airstream, called Fat Boys!